There is a cheese made in Nottinghamshire to the traditional Stilton recipe that isn’t allowed to call itself Stilton. It’s called Stichelton. Cheesemaker Joe Schneider and Randolph Hodgson, founder of Neal’s Yard Dairy, set out to revive the tradition of making Stilton with raw, unpasteurised milk, and the first Stichelton was made in 2006. But there was a problem. Stilton’s protected designation requires pasteurised milk, despite raw milk having been used to make the cheese for generations. So they gave their cheese a different name, Stichelton, taken from the earliest recorded name for the village of Stilton. The cheese is made at Collingthwaite Farm on the Welbeck Estate, on the edge of Sherwood Forest. Milk from the farm’s Holstein Friesian cows travels directly from the milking parlour to the dairy, where it is used without pasteurisation. Joe and his team ladle the curds by hand before the cheeses are left to mature. The result is a soft, creamy blue that changes with the seasons, because the milk does. The dairy doesn’t offer public tours, but you can buy Stichelton throughout the year at the nearby Welbeck Farm Shop, or through Neal’s Yard Dairy and independent cheesemongers across the country. Twenty years after the first Stichelton was made, it shows an old food tradition can survive, even if it has to change its name to do it.

Social Media

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sticheltondairy/

Can people visit or buy direct?

The dairy unfortunately is not able to offer public tours or direct trade sales. Stichelton is available from Welbeck Farm Shop, Neal’s Yard Dairy and other independent stockists. Please visit their website for the most up to date list of stockists.

Website

https://stichelton.co.uk/

Address Summary

Cuckney, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire